In Memory

- William J. Marshall ('49) of Grand Rapids, Minnesota passed away on April 11, 2016 in Duluth’s St. Luke’s hospital. He was born in Minneapolis on November 5, 1924, graduated from Edison High School, and entered college at the University of Minnesota in 1942. He enlisted in the Navy in 1943 and served until 1946. He then resumed his studies at the University of Minnesota and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in forestry in 1949. Bill joined the Society of American Foresters in 1954 while working for the Division of Forestry in Effie. Bill and his wife, Betty, moved to Grand Rapids in 1955, where he began working for the Itasca County Land Department. Bill served on the Headwaters Chapter Forest Management Committee during the 1950s and 1960s, became Land Commissioner in Itasca in 1961 and retired from the position in 1982. Bill’s curiosity was boundless and his interests were many. He was actively involved in Community Presbyterian Church, served as a lay minister in small regional churches, was a true humanitarian in the local community, and touched the lives of so many with his generous spirit. Learn more here.

- Robert E. Buckman ('49, '52) died on April 2, 2016 in Corvallis, Oregon. Bob was born on June 28, 1927 in Superior, Wisconsin, and grew up in Spooner. He entered Officer Candidate School at the University of Illinois during World War II, serving in Germany as a Second Lieutenant - Combat Engineers with the occupation forces. He then returned to the United States where he resumed his studies at the University of Illinois in forestry, transferring to the University of Minnesota for his Bachelor’s degree which he received in 1950. He was called to active duty during the Korean War, serving a two-year tour at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin. He earned his Master’s degree in Forestry at the University of Minnesota and entered employment with the USFS in 1953 at the Northern Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Research station in Missoula, Montana. In 1954 he returned to the University of Minnesota as an assistant instructor while waiting to begin his PhD. at Michigan University. While working on his PhD. he resumed his employment with the USFS at the Lake States Research Station’s Grand Rapids Laboratory under Zig Zasada in 1955. He completed his degree, focused on growth and yield of red pine, and also studied the use of prescribed fire in the management of red pine. While at Grand Rapids, Bob became active in the Northwest Chapter of SAF, having joined in 1950. He was on the program planning committee and also served on the Minnesota Forest Research Council for several years. In 1965 Bob transferred to the Washington office of the Forest Service. After stints in Washington and also the Pacific North West Forest and Range Experiment Station as Station Director, he returned to Washington in 1976 to become the Deputy Chief in charge of Research, retiring from the Forest Service in 1985. He remained active, returning to Corvallis, Oregon where he held a part-time faculty appointment at Oregon State. He taught forest policy and international forestry and guided several graduate students until he retired again in 1995. During this time he also served as Vice-president and then President of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (1986-1990), representing 15,000 forest scientists in 110 countries. His dedication to the forestry community will be dearly missed. Learn more about Bob Buckman's lifelong passion for forestry here.